


Passing Dogs

by eratothemuse



Series: ThranduilsPerkyButt's 5K Follower Giveaway [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 11:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16973388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eratothemuse/pseuds/eratothemuse
Summary: You reunite with Sirius after his escape from Azkaban.





	Passing Dogs

**Author's Note:**

> **Request:** _I was wondering if I could have a fanfiction where the reader is with Sirius Black before he went to Azkaban and reunites with him after he escapes._
> 
> This is for @dobbyisafreeelfnow, who was one of our 5K Follower Giveaway winners!! I hope you like it, darling!! Thanks for following!  
> \- Meg <3 xx

For years you had stopped in your path whenever you’d seen a black dog of similar stature to his animagus. A single moment of hope would spread through you as you thought that just maybe,  _maybe_  it could be him. It never was, of course, but perhaps that had been the only thing that had helped you from completely losing it in the aftermath of his sentencing to Azkaban.

Sirius had easily been the love of your life, wrenched away from you prematurely by treachery and tragedy. The promise that you’d made to stay in touch with the survivors of the _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_  ordeal had fizzled as the years went on, and your letters to Sirius went unanswered. You’d nearly lost touch with Remus by now, mainly because being around him brought back memories of a time long past. It was probably the same for him, considering his own lack of correspondence with you. It was just too hard. Too easy to pretend that there was a chance of things changing for the better. Too easy to get swept up in hope, waiting for a time that might never come. Too easy to get yourself hurt all over again.

The years that had been stolen from you could never be replaced. Years spent waiting for that singular moment that everything would suddenly change and be alright again. James and Lily would never come back, Sirius may as well never get his release from Azkaban, and you had been left in the worst position. You, after all, had to keep living without them, which was the real torture.

So you had done your best to forget and move on, as horrible as it sounded. Sure, there were times that something reminded you of him. After all, there always would be. You had loved him, and that feeling would probably never completely go away.

Eventually, when black dogs would pass you on the street, you wouldn’t stop. You wouldn’t hope. You had convinced yourself that you had healed, moved on, and put the memories of those soul-tearing days behind you.

It was only as he found you again that you realized you hadn’t moved on. Not at all.

The shadow of night had fallen, and you didn’t quite feel at ease as you hurried through the streets on your route home. You hadn’t felt at ease for years, but it had come to be a feeling you’d learned to live with, knowing that for the most part you could defend yourself if need be. Routine had become your friend. To and from work, as if like clockwork. Perhaps a bit of shopping sprinkled in on the days you realized your pantry was looking a tad more sparse than usual.

It was from the market that you traversed home that night, passing through alleys and around lovebirds that still roamed the streets in defiance of the night’s end, much like you had in your youth. It was through one of these alleys that you passed by a dog. A dog that, had you taken a second glance, you may have noticed its black fur.

But you kept walking, ignoring the hound in the shadows as you made the final turn towards your home. It was practically in sight, and you fumbled a moment for your keys around the paper bag you carried. Making your way up the steps and towards the door, you finally notice your shadow.

The dog was behind you, looking up with an intelligent tilt to its head as it gave off a whine. Familiarly, almost, it padded closer on its four legs when you tried to shoo it off. Another whine came from it, sounding betrayed for a single second as it just stared at you once more.

You felt silly in that moment for feeling that unfamiliar twinge of hope grasp your heart again, but you couldn’t deny the whisper from coming from your throat and cutting the cool air with a small gust of fog, “Padfoot?” Who was to know you’d had this treacherous hope? The street was otherwise clear aside from the interaction between you and the dog. There were no witness to the teetering of your pillar of disbelief. No one to see that (Y/N) had indeed let herself hope, just one last time.

His head moves towards the ground, as if in a nod, that has you almost dropping your paper bag of groceries in shock. Your heart was racing, eyes widening as you thought just how easily it could be a fluke. It could be a completely normal dog that just wanted the food held in your bag.

But it was too late for you. The hope had latched onto you by now, and you couldn’t deny yourself the chance to know for certain. With a nod, mostly to yourself, you turned back around towards the door, hand shaking as you barely manage to turn the key in the lock. As soon as the door swings open, the dog dashes past your legs, disappearing inside. Letting the door swing a little longer before you pass through the threshold, you don’t quite close the door until you notice a taller figure in the shadows of your hallway.

“Sirius,” this time, you do drop the bag, the relief of nothing having been breakable an afterthought when you kick the door closed behind you. The breath you take shakes with the weight that lifts from your heart, the burning in your nose, the shock clenching your stomach while you watch him emerge before you hesitantly.

He looked much older than the years between you would normally suggest, no doubt a product of the conditions he faced in Azkaban. His clothes were dirty, hair wild. Yet, somehow underneath all of that, he was exactly the same.

He had come to find you.

“Say something,” Sirius whispers back, swallowing thickly as he drinks you in much the same as you had to him. Neither of you knew for sure why you chose to whisper. It was involuntary, the silence between you refusing to be broken so easily as with words.

“It’s been so long,” you manage somehow, sounding much more held together than you actually were.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t miss me,” there’s a hint of a joke in his voice, but he sounds just as uncertain as you’d ever heard him, mirroring your own shakiness as you take a step forward.

The sigh you exhale nearly has you falling into his arms as an uncontrollable smile breaks across your face, tears clouding your vision, “Of course I bloody missed you, you dog.”

Sirius feels skinnier than you remember when his arms wrap around you, but that hardly matters as you hope with all your being that this wasn’t a dream, only knowing for certain when you feel his own body relax into your own as he kisses your forehead, “It’s been far too long, love.”


End file.
